1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for havesting fruit from a row crop trained on trellis wires or the like and more particularly to such a method and apparatus which have particular utility in the harvesting of grapes in both vine dried and undried form which have been trained and cultured in accordance with the method of the Applicants' invention.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As illustrated by the Fisher, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,964, it has been known to use batons or beater rods to strike trellis wires in an effort to dislodge vine borne crops trained along the wires. This practice has been less than successful for a variety of reasons including the inadequacies residing in the manner in which the vines are trained in such prior art practices.
The primary difficulties, however, result from the manner in which the striking force is applied to the trellis wires as well as in the proclivity for the batons to become entangled in the canes and foliage of the vines during continuous movement along the row. Where such entanglement occurs, the apparatus must ordinarily be stopped to permit disentanglement of the canes and batons in order to avoid ripping out the vines or otherwise seriously damaging the row crop and/or the apparatus. To a degree, two conflicting objectives are encountered. On the one hand, it may be desirable to have pronounced movement of the batons in order to impart the optimum striking force to the trellis wires. On the other hand, it is desirable to have only quite limited movement of the batons in order to minimize the propensity for entanglement. Heretofore, these conflicting objectives have prevented practical utilization of such prior art concepts.
Therefore, it has long been known that it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus for harvesting fruit from a row crop trained on trellis wires or the like in which the striking force was applied to the trellis wires with optimum effectiveness in dislodging the crop from the vines while minimizing the likelihood of entanglement in the canes and foliage of the row crop or causing other damage to the row crop, fruit, trellis wires, trellises or apparatus.